Thursday, December 17, 2009

Winter isn't hitting me as hard (yet) as I expected it to. I fell right back into the swing of my old job, though I sense that I have a better attitude than I remember. Maybe because I'm more relaxed in general, maybe because the work is fleeting; either way I'm enjoying it. I was surprised at how much information (passwords, procedures, phone numbers, etc.) bubbled up from the depths of my mind on Monday, my first day back to The Cube. And what I didn't remember on a conscious level, my weird robotic hand seems to recall for me. Today, I paused by the photocopier, thinking, "hmm, what was that employee number I used to enter to make this thing do its magic?" My digits responded automatically to the thought, keying in the requisite digits! Holy smokes, que estranho! Yesterday I was treated by my old boss--"Chief", or "Denny", as I playfully refer to him--to lunch. Chief happens to occupy a high position on my list of most-respected people, and I am far from alone in that assessment. We had a really dynamic conversation, from matters of the heart to those of the world, as usual. It has been so fun to reconnect with all the people, colleagues and otherwise, from my other life, that even the cold weather isn't troubling me as much as I suspected it would. The only thing that has me completely discombobulated is the southerly slant to the sun's trajectory. My inner GPS, my only real innate talent, is completely out-of-whack. Somehow, even though I'm in a city I recently knew like the back of my hand, North has becomes South. [Which creates an interesting side-ponder: how do all those migratory birds manage to keep it all straight?]But the Southerners shouldn't worry. I'll find my way back soon enough. Beijos pelo mundo inteiro, Loquinha

"How did you end up here?"

All stories have a beginning, though not all stories have a clear plot. I chucked my U.S. life in 2008 and moved (yes, alone) to Porto Alegre, Brazil. In the spirit of courage, ambition, adventure, and curiosity, I set out to restore and recreate my Self. In the beginning I wrote under the quaintly misspelled nickname Loquinha Gauchinha, and My Life In Havaianas represented, to me, a new adventure.

In 2010 I moved to São Paulo, because, well, "Leap and the net will appear." I turned Paulistinha(but stayed "colorada"). Nets did appear --amazingly, but not surprisingly--again. Yet a year later I was on my way back to the States. A masters in US-Brazil collaboration kept me occupied and laid groundwork for later evolution.

Today, My Life In Havaianas has a new meaning to me. It represents a Self I recreated and continue to expand. It is a state of mind. A passion reignited. I'm ready to fill in the gaps. For now, you can call me Jenjinha.